God rewards those...

God rewards those who diligently seek HIM! But before we get there I suppose it would be good understand “what it meant to the Holy One to bear away my sin.” You may be asking yourselves what on earth has to do with rewards. “Everything” is my retort. If we miss the wonder of what Christ the God man endured in the flesh, to take away our sin, we will always be chasing the wrong reward and hindering the perfect will of God for our lives. We know because the Word of God has taught us, that if we “walk in the Spirit we will not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.” A help to achieve this would be to focus on Christ’s sufferings. Without this knowledge dictating, we will always be half baked with our commitment. Like James says, "you say you have faith but I will show you my faith by my works". Faith without works remains dead. That type of faith tricks us into believing that all is well, when in fact we have miles to travel. I reiterate works can never save us, but because we have faith, workings will then complement our commitment to God our Father, bringing Him the glory in and through our pledge. Everything in life is the opposite way around, we set our sights on a goal and we then work toward it, through blood sweat and tears. We achieve results by our own efforts. This is why walking in the spirit can sometimes be rather challenging. We need to view our spiritual journey through a different lens. Although both the carnal and the spiritual belongs to the individual, they require different applications. Our minds need to be conditioned with this understanding; “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6) – They both have their part to play in an individual’s life. Many have worked this out while others still grapple with the idea of “this spirit world”. For many it remains a mystery, even the man that Jesus addresses in this chapter, Nicodemus could not get his head around the idea of what it meant to be “born again” and it obvious to see why. He was thinking with a carnal mind and then trying to understand a spiritual truth with that type of balanced. It’s like trying to mix oil and water, it is impossible. The carnal or fleshy realm requires a logical explanation for us to settle. The spiritual realm is driven by faith and this is the definition of faith; “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) - The only evidence we have been given by God to understand HE exists without being “born again” is creation. It’s the awe of creation that should drive us to question a little deeper when it comes to the spirit world and in turn gets us to ask the deeper question, “How do I fit in?” It’s now up to the preacher to point those individuals in the right direction. This is the way God, the Creator of the universe has fashioned it.

 

“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Romans 10:14) – And so the cycle continues, for over two thousand years this is how people have been save, born again! This is the way it shall continue right up until God shuts that door. Hopefully this will help you understand the need for those who have been saved to pass on the same information they received from someone else. We have been instructed by God; “freely ye have received, freely give.”  Salvation is a gift, it cannot be earned, nor can it be worked for. However, for us to receive sight into the spiritual world we need to believe before we will ever receive. Our carnal minds will never be able to process this truth. But once we realise that we need God to save us from ourselves and we cry out to Jesus with a contrite heart seeking out his forgiveness for our sin, that door is then opened and we are given eyes to see into the spiritual realm. Our spiritual journey begins and it’s such a marvellous revelation that it seems strange that others cannot see what you see. In fact it is rather mind boggling. However, because we now understand we need to be gracious with those yet on the fringe.

 

Signing off

 

Tyrone